/**
 * Copyright 2011-2011 - Members of the Chaupal Community
 *
 *    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 *    you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 *    You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *        http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 *    WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 *    See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 *    limitations under the License.
 */


package net.chaupal.API.HostEndpoint;

import java.net.URI;

/**
 * Define a generic host endpoint.
 */
public interface HostEndpoint extends Comparable<HostEndpoint> {

    /**
     * Provides the communication protocol of the host endpoint.
     * 
     * @return the communication protocol of the host endpoint
     */
    String getCommunicationProtocol();

    /**
     * Provides a string representation of the URL representation of the
     * host endpoint.
     *
     * @return a string representation of the host endpoint
     */
    @Override
    String toString();
    
    /**
     * Provides a URI representation of the host endpoint.
     *
     * @return a URI representation of the host endpoint
     */
    URI toURI();
    
}
